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Rejoicing In Mercy: Unity In Diversity, John W. Constable

Concordia Theological Monthly

The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod has adopted an apt slogan to celebrate a century and a quarter of its existence: "Rejoicing in Mercy." The Lord has been good to our beloved Synod and has given us so much. A quarter of a century ago we celebrated "A Century of Grace;" a half-century ago we cried "Ebenezer" - "the Lord hath helped us hitherto."

Doctrinal Emphases In The Missouri Synod, Erwin L. Lueker

Concordia Theological Monthly

The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod has had the same doctrinal basis for 125 years. It is remarkable that within that period of time the loyalty of no group in Synod to that basis as given in the constitution could be seriously challenged. This, however, does not mean that there were no variations in emphases. This study is a brief synopsis of such variations. It is not concerned with difference, uniformity, contradiction, or inconsistency in doctrine (although some of these factors may be present) but with coordinating stresses. Examination of consistent adherence to basic insights is also beyond the scope of this …

Possible Courses Of Action Involving A Disaffected Or Dissident Individual Or Group Of Individuals In The Church,, Arthur Carl Piepkorn

Concordia Theological Monthly

This study was not designed for publication. The staff of CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY requested the author to prepare it as the basis for a discussion out of which an in-house position paper might come. After receiving and discussing the draft, the staff adopted it as its own with minor modifications and secured the author's permission to publish it.

A Growing Commonality Among Lutherans?, Andrew J. White

Concordia Theological Monthly

A statistical report from the Office of LCUSA shows that as of February 1970 there were 50 pan-Lutheran councils and conferences of various sorts in operation, representing 27 states, and another 39 in the process of formation, including 6 additional states. The great majority of these councils have come into existence in major metropolitan centers.

The Binding Nature Of Synodical Resolutions For A Pastor Or Professor Of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, Arthur C. Repp

Concordia Theological Monthly

The author. argues that the principle that puts synodical resolutions of a doctrinal nature on a par with the Lutheran Symbols is unacceptable because it is unLutheran, unconstitutional, contrary to the advisory nature of the Synod, and too broad to be meaningful and valid.

Companions Of The Augustana, E. George Pearce

Concordia Theological Monthly

How many of us Lutherans have wished at one time or another that our church might be called by another name? As an introductory thought, I should like you to consider the title of this essay, "Companions of the Augustana," as a possible alternative.

The Gospel And The Theological Task, John H. Tietjen

Concordia Theological Monthly

"I'm no theologian, but …. " You have heard the statement many times. After a learned presentation by a theological professor at a pastoral conference a parish pastor rises to add his wisdom to the discussion and begins with those words, most often to take exception to something the professor has said. A delegate to a church convention utters them to convince his fellow delegates of the practical, down-to-earth advice he is about to offer, usually stated in very specific theological terms in spite of his introduction.

Theses On Ecumenical Truth And Heresy, John George Huber

Concordia Theological Monthly

Out of love and zeal for both truth and unity, the following theses are presented to my beloved colleagues in the Southern California District of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod as a constructive contribution to the current debate on altar and pulpit fellowship. They do not represent an official policy, but are only a personal, unofficial opinion offered for exploratory discussion. They reflect the "hernial stance" of one who lives in the tension of obedience to Jesus Christ while simultaneously remaining a responsible member of a changing synod and a changing world.

Editorial, Alfred O. Fuerbringer

Concordia Theological Monthly

In some respects this month's Concordia Theological Monthly is a continuation of the issue for December 1964, which was prepared in advance to appear at the time of the observance of the 125th anniversary of the founding of Concordia Seminary. The essays presented now represent a selection of the papers and addresses given at the annual celebration on 8 and 9 December 1964.

Walther's Contribution To Lutheranism, Lewis W. Spitz

Concordia Theological Monthly

Walther neither inaugurated another Reformation, nor did he supplement that of Luther. Some people in the 16th century insisted that Luther did not go far enough in reforming the church, because he refused to disturb the church by introducing changes which were not demanded by the Word of God. Luther was not an iconoclast. Neither was Walther, who had no intention of going beyond Luther, but was satisfied with being a humble disciple of the great Reformer. As such he was loyal to Luther's theology, which he gathered from Luther's writings and the Lutheran Confessions. He would also have others …

Walther's Editorial In The First Issue Of Der Lutheraner, Alex W. Guebert

Concordia Theological Monthly

The German population of the western part of America is evidently growing day by day. Consequently there is also an increasing number of those who profess the same faith that Luther once proclaimed. Yet the members of no other church body are so forlorn as those of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Even those who still call themselves Lutheran live so far apart and are in such poor circumstances that in many places they are in no position to organize a congregation and call a Lutheran pastor who can minister to their spiritual needs.

The Historical Background Of "A Brief Statement.", Carl S. Meyer

Concordia Theological Monthly

A Brief Statement of the Doctrinal Position of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States, adopted in 1932, is a product of the Middle Period in the history of that church. It reflects the theological concerns of that church body at that time and is conditioned by the relationships between the Missouri Synod and other Lutheran bodies during that period. Only to a lesser degree does it deal with general contemporary theological issues.

A Quarter-Century Of Interchurch Relations: 1935-1960, Alfred O. Fuerbringer, Martin H. Franzmann

Concordia Theological Monthly

In the latter part of 1960 the Synodical Committee on Doctrinal Unity observed the 25th anniversary of its appointment and organization. This would seem, therefore, to be a fitting time to survey that area of our Synod's history in which this committee's activities fall and to attempt an assessment of the committee's activities in that area during the past 25 years.

The Altpreussische Union. Its Status And Significance Today With Special Reference To The Ecumenical Movement, Matthias Schulz Jr., Siegfried J. Lehmann

Concordia Theological Monthly

The Altpreussische Union of 1817 is not only a past event of historical interest, but it also deserves to be recognized as a significant factor in its effect on the contemporary scene. It continues to be effective in the church organization known as the EKU (Evangelische Kirche der Union), which stems from this union and through it exerts a definite influence on the life of the church in Germany. Moreover, it continues to be even more effective by reason of the principles on which it was based and which by no means apply only to Germany.

A Basic History Of Lutheranism In America, Lewis W. Spitz

Concordia Theological Monthly

Abdel Ross Wentz, the author of this book, may be regarded as the dean of historians of the Lutheran Church in America. Among the significant contributions to the history of Lutheranism in this country is his Lutheran Church in America History, the precursor of the present volume. His History of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Maryland and The Beginnings of the German Element in York County, Pennsylvania, have set a pattern for other historians, demonstrating the kind of work that must be done elsewhere before a final and comprehensive history of Lutheranism can be written. The same may be said …

Brief Studies, Rudolph Norden, H. B. Kidd

Concordia Theological Monthly

The Lutheran Church as Evaluated by a Searcher

An Outsider Comes in and Looks Back

The Lutheran Church And Its American Environment. Martin H. Scharlemann, Martin H. Scharlemann

Concordia Theological Monthly

Lutherans landed in America before the arrival of the Mayflower. Some Danish Lutherans, looking for the Northwest Passage, buried forty of their dead on Hudson Bay in 1619. In December of the same year Pastor Rasmus Jensen held a Lutheran Christmas service on the shores of what is now the United States of America.

Brief Studies, Heinrich Rendtorff, Walter Buszin

Concordia Theological Monthly

Toward A Missionary Church

Liturgy in the Lutheran Church in Germany

Brief Studies, William F. Arndt, Lajos Jἀnossy

Concordia Theological Monthly

Progress in Deciphering the Minoan Script

A Note on The History of The Liturgy in The Lutheran Church In Hungary

A Short History Of The Lutheran Church In Great Britain, E. George Pearce

Concordia Theological Monthly

“Lutheran” is a word that many English people find hard to pronounce because it is so seldom used in this country. In few countries of Western Europe is the Lutheran Church as little known as it is in Great Britain. When recently an inquiry was made at the B. B. C. in London regarding the possibility of a Lutheran religious broadcast, the surprising reply was given: "It is the policy of the B. B. C. to broadcast only the services of those churches which are in the mainstream of the Christian tradition." How strange that the largest of all Protestant …

Memorandum Concerning The Church Situation In Germany, Martin Kiunke

Concordia Theological Monthly

The VELKD hopes to become the long-desired corpus Lutheranorum... Rudolph Rocholl (superintendent in Goettingen, Kirchenrat in Breslau, and president of the Prussian Lutheran Free Church) saw the disastrous influence of unionism more clearly than others and shortly after 1900 appealed to the Lutheran provincial churches to form a corpus Lutheranorum on a clearly defined confessional basis. His appeal was left unheeded.

Evangelical Integration Of Color, Carl M. Zorn

Concordia Theological Monthly

The status of the Negro in America is rapidly changing. Our Church's work among the colored people is no more a foreign work in the deep South. Soon many Negro churches, also of our Synod, will no longer be subsidized. The economic opportunities of the Negro are being increasingly protected by law and sentiment. The sociological trends of our times emphasize the elimination of ghettos. "Without distinction of race, creed, or color'' is one of the many American shibboleths. People with Negro features are filtering into every phase of our social structure.

Foreword, W. Arndt

Concordia Theological Monthly

As in the distance the summits of 1947 become faintly visible, there are two topics which we should like to discuss with our readers, one dark and distressing, the other a cause for joy and gratitude - the physical and spiritual misery that grips the world, and the centennial of the Missouri Synod.

The Reunion Of Christendom, Th. Engelder

Concordia Theological Monthly

A third slogan of the unionistic propaganda is: "Unite or be submerged!" (C. S. Macfarland, Trends of Christian Thinking, p. 146.) The union of the churches is the supreme need of the Church, "the essential and basic need." (Loe. cit., p. 136.) The unionists are honestly convinced, and they want to convince us that unless the churches unite to present an unbroken front to the forces of evil, the Church will go down in defeat. J. D. Rockefeller, Jr., declared that "only a united Christian world can stem the rising tide of materialism, of selfishness, of shaken traditions, of crumbling …

General Synod Liberalism In The U. L. C. A., Theodore Graebner

Concordia Theological Monthly

The CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY has frequently expressed editorial amazement over the teachings which are permitted to represent the theology of the United Lutheran Church through pages of the Lutheran Church Quarterly, edited jointly by the faculties of the theological seminaries at Gettysburg and at Philadelphia. Particularly the book reviews have been permitted to express views which diverge considerably from the doctrine of the Lutheran Confessions. But it is rarely that a single issue of the Quarterly contains so much as the October issue of this year (1940) to discourage those who have been hoping for an upward trend in the …

Foreword, W. Arndt

Concordia Theological Monthly

With the present number the CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY begins the second decade of its existence. We cannot but think of the gaps that have been made in the ranks of our leaders during the ten years that have been concluded. To mention but two losses, in 1931 our great dogmatician, Dr. F. Pieper, was taken from us, and 1939 saw the departure of our great churchman Dr. F. Pfotenhauer. In these two men we had representatives of the second generation of our church-body, men who had studied under Dr. Walther and one of whom, Dr. Pieper, had even been a …

The Significance Of The Doctrine Of The Church And The Ministry, J. Theodore Mueller

Concordia Theological Monthly

Both historically and because of its intrinsic value the doctrine concerning the Church and the ministry deserves continuous and careful study. Briefly expressed, its clear perception by our fathers and the consistent application of it saved the troubled and perplexed band of Saxon pilgrims from utter confusion and in the course of years made our Synod what it is today, a confessional, cohesive, active religious group whose influence upon other church-bodies, above all, on Lutheran church-bodies, has been considerable.

The Reformed Doctrine Of The Lord's Supper, Th. Engelder

Concordia Theological Monthly

K. Barth said in 1923: "Uncertainty prevails in the Lutheran communion also, and they have Crypto-Calvinists and even Crypto-Zwinglians among them in fairly large numbers - at least in respect of the question of the Lord's Supper." (The Word of God and the Word of Man, p. 260.) Is that true? The Allg. Ev. Luth. Kirchenzeitung wrote April 10, 1931: ''The false teaching of the Lord's Supper, which has split the Church since the days of Marburg, has invaded our Lutheran Church and is today penetrating its innermost circles.

Dr. Walther's Book ''That The Ev. Luth. Church Is The True Visible Church Of God On Earth", Paul Schulz

Concordia Theological Monthly

We are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and we glory in that fact. We rejoice that so many of us can meet to consider the welfare, the work, and the needs of this Church, and we are again mapping out our work in this our dear Church in order then to go back and to devote ourselves to the service of this Church which we love and to which we have dedicated our gifts, our labors, our possessions, yea, ourselves. And we do this because we are divinely convinced that our Church, together with all churches and church-bodies agreeing …

The U.L.C.A. And The Doctrine Of Inspiration, W. Arndt

Concordia Theological Monthly

The reaction of the U. L. C. A. commissioners to this statement Is the following: "Our commission was unable to accept the statement of the Missouri Synod that the Scriptures are the infallible truth 'also in those parts which treat of historical, geographical, and other secular matters.' We find the words quoted not in accordance with our Lutheran Confessions (see Formula of Concord, Epitome, Introd.) nor with the Scriptures themselves.''